Oscillating steam-engine



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

7 (No Model.)

H. L. WILSON.

OSUILLATING STEAM ENGINE.

Patented May 12,1891.

(No Model.) 2 I I 2 SheetS- Sheet 2.

H. L. WILSON.

OSGILLATING STEAM ENGINE.

No. 452,298. Patented May 12, 1891..

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY L. IVILSON, OF TERRE I-IAUTE, INDIANA.

GSCILLATING STEAM-ENGINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 452,298, dated May 12,1891.

Application filed February 25, 1891. $erial No. 382,800. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY L. YVILSON, a citizen of the United States,residing at the city of Terre I-Iaute, in the county of Vigo and Stateof Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inOscillating Steam Engines and Reverse Mechanism Therefor; and I dohereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact descriptionof the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to whichit appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to improvements in oscillating engines andreversing mechanism therefor; and the objects of the invention are,first, to simplify and compactly arrange the cylinder and valve, so asto dispense with the usual reciprocating cross-head and at the same timesecure the direct steam-pressure on the piston-head; secondly, toprovide a simple reverse mechanism applied directly to the oscillatingcylinder and capable of being easily and quickly shifted by hand to re-.verse the engine and to so support the piston head as to avoid unduefriction and the dragging of the packing rings on the cylinder.

With these and other ends in view the invention consists in thecombination of devices and novel construction and arrangement ofparts,whichwill behereinafterfullydescribed, and pointed out in theclaims.

To enable others to understand my invention, I have illustrated the samein the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a plan view of anoscillating steam-engine embodying my improvements. Fig. 2 is asectional view taken longitud nally through the cylinder. Fig. 3 is alongitudinal section on the plane indicated by the dotted line a: 00 ofFig. 2. Figs. 4. and 5 are detail views of the valve or reverse disk,showing the live and exhaust steam chambers and the several ports andwith the same in their reverse positions; and Fig. 6 is a similar viewof the reverse valve or disk, showing the opposite face of the same. 7

Like letters of reference denote corresponding parts in all the figuresof thedrawings.

A designates the oscillating cylinder of my improved steam-engine, whichcylinder 1S provided at its ends with two heads a a and with the lateraltrunnions a a, extending at right angles to the axis of the cylinder atabout the middle thereof and jonrnaled in bearings b b, rigid with thepillow-blocks b, mounted on the fixed stationary base B of the engine.The heads of the cylinder are provided with central aligned stu[ring-boxes c c, and through these stuffing-boxes passes the piston-rodO, that protrudes beyond both ends of the cylinder and is supportedfirmly in striding-boxes c 0, so that the packing-rings cl of thepistonhead D are prevented from having undue frictional contact with thewall of the cylinder or dragging thereon. The piston-head D is firmlysecured to the rod 0 and reciprocates in the cylinder between the portsE E therein, which ports are formed in the side of the cylinder next tothe steam-chest F, and they are located near the ends of the cylinder.The piston-rod has one end thereof connected directly to the crank-ping, carried by the crankdisk G, which disk is fixed to one end of themain shaft H, that is arranged in the bed B transversely to the cylinderand journaled in suitable bearings g on the bed, the free end of themain shaft having a fly or balance wheel G.

The stean1-chest F is in theform of a ring or annulus, with thedepending feet f and the face-plate F applied to the outer side of thechest, so that the inner side of the chest when it is removed is open;but this open side of the steam-chest is applied directly against thecylinder, which thus serves to close the inner side of said chest. Thedepending feet f of the steam-chest are bolted or otherwise firmlysecured to the bed 13, and one of the trunnions of the cylinder passesthrough the chest concentric with the annular or ring-like part of thesame, whereby the chest remains at restas the cylinder oscillates andthe necessary tight joint between the chest and cylinder is insured bythe employment of selfpacking reverse valve or disk H.

The reverse valve or disk is arranged tightly or snugly within theannular or steam chest, but it is free to be turned a limited distancein said steam-chest by a hand-lever, and in the valve or disk are formedthe live or exhaust steam chambers and passages necessary for thepassage of steam to the oscillating cylinder to insure its operation andto enable it to be reversed. The reverse valve or disk lits close withinthe annular steamchest and against the faceplate F.

I will now proceed to a detailed description of the reverse disk orvalve. (Shown more clearly in Figs. 4 and 5.) Centrally through thevalve is an opening 7t, through which passes one of the trunnions of thecylinder, which is thus concentric with the valve and the steam-chest,as shown, and in the outer face of the reverse valve or in that sidethereof contiguous to the face-plate F of the steamchest I provide twochambers I J, which are separated or divided from each other by thebridge-wall or partition K, extending radially through the axis orcenter of the disk-valve, the upper one of said chambers I constitutingthe live-steam chamber and the lower chamber J forming theexhaust-chamber. Near the edge of the disk or valve are two series ofsteam-ports, each series being composed of three ports, the ports of oneseries being designated by the numerals 1, 2, and 3, and the ports ofthe other series by l, 5, and 6. The ports 1 and 3 of one series are thelive-steam ports, which communicate by the short channels m m in oneface of the disk directly with the live-steam chamber, while the ports4: 6 of the other series are exhaustports, which in likemannercommunicate directly with the exhaust-chamber by means of thechannels at it, formed in the same or outer face of the disk or valve.The port 2 is situated between the live-steam ports 1 3, but it does notcommunicate with them, and it does communicate with the exhaust-chamherby a channel or groove 0, which is formed in the inner surface of thedisk or valve and opens into the exhaust-chamber through an opening 0.The port 5 of the other series of ports is a live-steam port, which isarranged between the two exhaust-ports -t 6; but it does not communicatewith them, said exhaust-port 5 having a channel or groove 1) formed inthe inner face of the disk or valve and extending to the livesteamchamber, into which it opens by the hole or aperture 1), the twoopenings 0'1) being 011 opposite sides of the bridge or partition wallK.

The reverse valve or ring remains stationary orat rest within thesteam-chest, while the cylinder oscillates vertically; but this valve ordisk can be readily moved by hand to reverse the engine by means of alever L, that extends upward from said valve and which works in asegmental slot Z, formed in the top of the steam-chest.

Steam is supplied to the live-steam chamber I by means of a pipe I,connected to the face-plate F, and the exhaust-steam may be conveyedaway from the exhaust-chamber by a suitable pipe attached to theface-plate to receive the cxhauststeam from said chamber J.

This being the construction of my invention, the operation thereof maybebriefly described as follows: Live steam is supplied to the chamber I,and with the valve or disk in the position shown in Fig. l, or adjustedto permit the engine-shaft to run in one dircction, the steam issupplied to and exhausted from the cylinder in this wise: \Vith thecylinder inclined so that its port E aligns with the port 3, steam istaken into the cylinder through ports E 3 and exhausted through ports Eat; but as the cylinder oscillates and reverses its position (due to thepressure of steam on the piston-head and to the endwise movement of thepiston-rod, which is tilted by the revolution of the crank-disk) theport port E is brought into line with the exhaustport 2, while the portE aligns with the livesteam port5, so that steam is supplied at E 5 andexhausted at E 2. It will thus be seen that steam is alternatelyadmitted to and exhausted from the cylinder at opposite ends of the sameand that the cylinder automatically changes its position to take andexhaust steam and thus insure a steady continuous opera tion. To reversethe engine it is only necessary to turn the handle or lever I, whichshifts the disk or valve and causes the ports therein to assume aposition in which steam is supplied and exhausted as follows, referencebeing had more particularly to Fig. 5: \Vith the cylinder inclined sothat its port E aligns with the valve-port 1 steam passes through portsE 1 to the cylinder and is exhausted at E 6; but as the piston and itsred are moved and the cylinder oscillated the port E is shifted to alignwith the exhaustport 2, and the port E aligns with the livesteam port 5to take live steam at the other end of the cylinder, thus reversing theoscillation of the cylinder and the main shaft of the engine.

The parts are few in number and simple and durable in construction, asno cross-head is required, thus lessening the weight of the engine andthe cost of constructing the same. The piston-head receives the directpressure of the live steam, thus increasing efficiency of the engine andpromoting economy, and the valve is self-packing and acts efficiently inreversing the engine, which can be easily and quickly accomplished bythe simple movement of a lever.

I am aware that changes in the form and proportion of. parts anddetails'of construe tion of the mechanisms herein shown and described asan embodiment of my invention can be made without departing from thespirit or sacrificing the advantages of my invention, and I thereforereserve the right to make such modifications as fairly fall within thescope of the invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination, with an oscillating cyl-' inder, of a stationarysteam-chest and a stationary valve or disk provided with the separatelivesteam chamber and exhaust-steam chamber and with live and exhaustports communicating, respectively, with the live and exhaust chambers, asingle exhaust-port being arranged between the live-steam ports, andanother liveport being arranged between the two exhaust-ports,substantially as described.

2. The combination, with an oscillating cylinder, of the stationarysteam-chest having the slot in its upper side and a reverse-valve fittedtightly Within said chamber and provided with arigid handle which worksthrough the slot in the steam-chest, said valve or disk being providedwith live and exhaust chambers and with two steam-ports and twoexhaust-ports arranged diametrically opposite, a single exhaust-portbeing between the liveports, and another live-port being between the twoexhaust-ports, substantially as described.

3. A reverse valve or disk for engines,provided with the live-steamchamber and the exhaust-steam chamber separated by an intermediatepartition wall, and live and exhaust ports communicating, respectively,with the live and exhaust chambers, a single exhaust-port arrangedbetween the live-steam ports and having achannel or groove leading tothe exhaust-chamber, and another live-port arranged between theexhaust-ports and having a separate channel or groove leading to thelive chamber, substantially as described.

4. A reverse valve or disk for engines, provided on one face with thelive-steam chamber and the exhaust-steam chamber, which are separated byan intermediate partitionwall, the live-steam ports arranged on one sideof the partition-wall and opening directly into the live-steam chamber,the eX- haust-ports located in the reverse side of the partition-Walland opening directly into the exhaust-chamber, a single live-steam portlocated between the exhaust-ports and having a channel 011 the rear ofthe valve leading to the live-chamber, and another exhaust-port betweenthe live-ports and likewise having channels on the rear of the valveleading to the exhaustchamber, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix mysignature in presence of two witnesses.

hi HENRY L. WILSON.

mark

Witnesses:

MosEs T. AUDRICK, RICHARD V. NEWTON.

